New 1928 Roadster Saturday

R

Russell in Tulsa

Senior Member
My brother just bought a '28 roadster. When we went to look at it he was not really impressed as it was in horrible shape although very straight with no dents and only a little bit of rust in front of rear fenders. Straightest fenders ever. He was told before arrival by the son of the owner it was a Rumble Roadster but was a trunk instead. Last painted with correct blue for a '28 but cracked and checked badly since 1942 and fenders were the same color. Talked to the owner and he said when the Tulsa club went to Pikes Peak maybe in the sixties or seventies everyone trailered their car but he drove his there and then up to the summit and back. The more my bro looked at it he told the guy he would pass on the purchase.
We thanked him and turned to leave and the man said a number that shocked us both. Needless to say we brought it home.
I said the car would get more attention at a show "as is" against the usual fare at the shows but he wants a rumble seat in it. The top is new with the side curtains there also.
I have a repro hinge set I bought for my '30 std. coupe and also the original seat cushions with new upholstery. My question is will the hinge set fit or do we need to talk to Berts to get the correct hinges?
As a side note we are discussing how to "fake" an original period correct black paint job on the fenders without making them look new and fresh.

Sorry for the long post but am excited about his purchase and with climate change as it is weather is not bad yet around here and may be some days we can work on it.
 
Keep the trunk. Rumble seats are not safe in today's traffic. The changeover is not simple. A trunk is more practical. And original cars with trunks are rare.
 
700rpm said:
Keep the trunk. Rumble seats are not safe in today's traffic. The changeover is not simple. A trunk is more practical. And original cars with trunks are rare.
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Very good advice. My 28 Sports coupe came with a rumble seat from the factory. If it was not original it would be gone.
 
Save the trunk. I have a rumble seat in my Cabbie and all them womens want a ride and then they wanna talk toooo. I can't get's no pleasant drivin done...
 
I agree with the other posters - keep the trunk! Rumble seats, seem nostalgic, but are windy and not very practical. The cushion and seat backrest take about half the "trunk" space up, even though you can remove them, but not real easy. Like 700RPM stated above, the rumble seat conversion isn't real easy, although it isn't rocket science either. You would need to do a repaint job, but maybe you are already planning to repaint the car.

I would suspect that they are more model A owners that are going the other way - rumble seat to trunk conversions because of the convenience.

Also, it would be nice to see some pictures of you new purchase.
Rusty Nelson
 
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wrndln said:
I agree with the other posters - keep the trunk! Rumble seats, seem nostalgic, but are windy and not very practical. The cushion and seat backrest take about half the "trunk" space up, even though you can remove them, but not real easy. Like 700RPM stated above, the rumble seat conversion isn't real easy, although it isn't rocket science either. You would need to do a repaint job, but maybe you are already planning to repaint the car.

I would suspect that they are more model A owners that are going the other way - rumble seat to trunk conversions because of the convenience.

Also, it would be nice to see some pictures of you new purchase.
Rusty Nelson
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Same here. Rumble seats are way over rated. We have two cars with rumble seats and they suck. Useless for trips and almost never used as rumble seats. Very difficult to get tools and spare parts in and out. A trunk is worth at least three rumble seats. Have fun with you "new" Model A.
 
Re the fake repaint on the fenders.

30 years ago, I used to use some fantastic anti corrosive epoxy , when everyone was still using acrylic lacquer based products and paints with hardeners were just coming in.

It covered my sandblasted jobs perfectly, but in those early years, I was worried about adhesion, so I put acrylic primer over the epoxy before it was fully cured to give adhesion without rubbing the epoxy .

Just like in the 'recoat window' of nowadays.

Very occasionally, I overprimed the job a bit too soon, and as the epoxy was still curing, the lacquer on top was dry almost immediately, it soon checked and pulled back like a crocodile skin .

It all rubbed out OK, as I have seen jobs 20 years later, that I did , and they were still perfect.

But that crocodile skin look with the under colour cracked back under top colour looked like great patina.

If your fenders are already checked now, you should be able to cover the light blue with an under colour, maybe a red primer and then paint black over and try and re create an old checked look.

Paint vendors sell specific paints these days that check to look antique.

Experiment a bit .
 
I guess everyone needs a rumble seat once but those that say they are useless are correct. Our kids ride in it but I would rather have a trunk. If you change it to a rumble seat, make notes on how to change it back because in the future you may want to.

Neal
 
Neal said:
I guess everyone needs a rumble seat once but those that say they are useless are correct. Our kids ride in it but I would rather have a trunk. If you change it to a rumble seat, make notes on how to change it back because in the future you may want to.

Neal
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You got that right Neal...But that was 35 years ago when I converted thinking that I could take my friends with me...Now I wish I had the parts back to convert back to a trunk...Maybe Berts has them...

Pluck
 
Pluck, you can get most of the stuff from Bratton's. I had to buy the latch on eBay, but otherwise everything is repro.
 
The kids and the mother inlaw can go for ice cream in the rumble seat but you can't put them in the trunk. I love my rumble seat and so does my wife. Wayne
 
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I hope all you old farts keep the rumble gear, so when you are six feet under and the grandkids you once took for a ride in the rumble will want to convert it back again because of the NOSTALGIA that they feel about the car when they were kids..

And when they get old, they will convert back to a trunk........then when their grandkids get it they will..........

These model A/s rumbles/trunks will become a never ending cycle.
 
OK, I'll put out the question. Other than opening from the front and not the back as a trunk would, I have thought about taking just the seat and backrest out and using it as a trunk. Has anyone done that?
 
31 Model A said:
OK, I'll put out the question. Other than opening from the front and not the back as a trunk would, I have thought about taking just the seat and backrest out and using it as a trunk. Has anyone done that?
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Unintentionally, yes. The back part of the seat was all ripped up in my grandfather's roadster so he pulled it out. It's not too difficult to get things in and out of it. There would be even more room if we removed the bottom seat too but he switches between using it as a trunk and as a rumble seat.

We believe the seat to be original. Next time I'm over there I'll take pictures of it so somebody can verify if it's original or not.
 
I would also keep the trunk. It is a difficult job changing over to a rumble seat and it ruins an original car forever. Adults will want to ride in it and it is hard on the old cars when adults climb over the fenders and quarters. I have often regretted converting our old coupe .
 
I have also found most of my friends, who are now 65+, have a lot of trouble getting in and out of the rumble. But you younger members probably won't have that problem.

I admit the RS gets a lot of attention. One of the first thing a stranger will ask is, "Is that a rumble seat?" But I'm still going to convert it back to a trunk.
 
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